WOMEN

On a Tuesday morning in early April this year, over a thousand teachers and students at a Kilpauk school were part of an interactive, fun-filled session, that was unlike any other they had ever taken part in. For, while there were fun and games and audio-visual presentations, as there might have been during other school events, the focus on this occasion was different. It was a session meant to raise awareness among those present, as well as break the silence around one of the greatest social evils of the times - child sexual abuse, or CSA. Much as we would…

  'Men Take Lead Ride' is a historic ride to mark the International Menstrual Hygiene Day on 28th May 2017 in Bengaluru starting at 8 am at Bangalore Town Hall for a stigma free menstruation. The riders will cover 40 kilometres to mark the 40 years a woman menstruates in her lifetime. The route is Townhall - Mekhri circle - Iskon -PES College -Devegowda Petrol Bunk - JP Nagar - Silk Board - HSR Layout BDA Complex. At the end point the bikers and supporters of the ride will take a pledge to end stigma around menstruation in our homes, schools, workplaces…

People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Karnataka and Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression Karnataka released their joint fact-finding report on the garment workers strike of April 18 and 19 2016. The report, titled Thread and Tension- an account of the historic uprising of garment workers, was launched jointly by Rangamma from the BBMP Contract Powrakarmika Workers' Union, Bhagya from Garment and Textile Workers' Union (GATWU), Pushpa from the Stree Jaagruti Samiti (Domestic Workers' Rights Union), and Rukmini, an Anganwadi teacher. The report release was preceded by a panel discussion, moderated by Kavita Srinivas of PUCL, where the panelists spoke of…

April 24th was the Women's Political Empowerment Day. Is this cause limited to just a day? How do we actually make it happen? This graph shows the representation of women in municipality, assembly and parliament levels, from Bengaluru. What does it tell you? Womens' representation in Parliament, Assembly and BBMP levels in Bengaluru. Graph: Sahana Mohan Think about it - though there are no women MLAs or MPs, there are 101 women corporators in Bengaluru. The number of councillors rose to 101 because BBMP has 50% reservation for women, not because the political and electoral system believed in the cause.…

I first met Faiza Aijaaz a month back. Her school in Hyderabad was one of the seven Minority Welfare Schools where our organisation was all set to start working. Faiza was one of the smallest girls in Grade 7, a class of girls aged between 11 and 13. Shy and reserved at first, Faiza turned out to be bright as a button. As a part of vetting the students and the school, our team was to have a short interaction with the girls. During this session – an activity that placed the spotlight on the various physical, emotional and societal…

“If you kill someone with a gun, if you shoot them, they die once. But if you throw acid on them they die every day.” These moving words by an acid attack survivor motivated Sandeed Farooq to take action. Calm, collected and articulate, Delhi-based Sandeed shows a maturity far beyond his sixteen years. Alongside his co-founders Sakshi Agarwal and Neha Thadani, he started a campaign called “Flawless Flaws”, which works to raise both awareness and funds in support of acid attack survivors. A student himself, Sandeed is not unlike many other students in a lot of ways. His favourite subject is history,…

There was a time when menstruating women were asked to ‘sit’ separately during ‘those’ days – they would not enter the kitchen or go to the market or fill water from the well or do any work. It was like being in the naughty corner for 3-4 days. It probably gave the over-burdened women a restful break every month. Times have changed and women cannot take (nor do they want to take) those kinds of breaks. All the leak-lock technologies, long-absorbing gels and ultra-thin-extra-large sizes in sanitary pads -- at the end of the day, they are still restrictive. Reusable menstrual…

Pooja Bhatia Arora, a fitness expert in Bengaluru, talks about her journey from a small town to city life and the impact it had on her health and the moments that put her on the path to fitness, and that fitness is about trying out different ways to be fit and in the process finding what works for you.

Sex worker unions codemned the step taken by the Karnataka State government for forming Jayamala Committee to conduct a survey of sex workers by making false promises of free housing and loans. Karnataka Sex workers Union organized a protest in Townhall recently, against the exclusion of Sex workers organisations by Jayamala Committee. Sex workers and Human Rights activists participated in this protest. Sex workers protested near Town Hall recently. Pic: Manohar Elavarthi The General Secretary of the Karnataka Sex Workers Union Bharathi said: “The Government of Karnataka formed a committee headed by Smt. Jayamala to study the situation of Sex…

Hear about her journey from working in the garment industry to learing to drive an auto and then to driving an auto for hire. She now has her own auto with support from a bank loan. She talks about how her life, experience, learnings and the interactions will different people she comes across every day.